Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Twisted Destinies
by Fyrium
Summary: Two charmander eggs originally meant to be destroyed are instead saved. What will become of the two charmander that will supposedly greatly effect the time line of the pokemon world?
1. Prologue

**A/N: **Recently got into reading pokemon fan fictions and thought I'd try my hand at them using the free time I have while in college. Hope you all enjoy this little tidbit. Feedback is appreciated, even if it's as simple as saying that there should be more detail.

_Disclaimer: Pokemon is the property of The Pokemon Company and other respective creators such as Spike Chunsoft. _

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><p><strong>Prologue:<strong>

In an instant, she was there, sitting amongst some of the largest and oldest trees on the continent. The area looked like it hadn't been tread upon in quite some time, with most of the forest floor covered in wet leaves and dirt.

Upon taking a closer look at her surroundings and sending out a small psychic pulse, the figure looked slightly disappointed. _He's late. _The floating green figure seemed to sigh slightly. _He just can't manage to be on time to anything, can he?_

"I'm not late you know, I'm merely on time. I'd think a time traveler would also deign to show up on time instead of a few minutes early, or are you still having trouble locking in to certain points of time?"

The first figure swung around aiming a sphere of compressed ghostly energy at the newly appeared second figure. Upon seeing the small pink feline with a large grin on his face, the first figure dissipated the shadow ball before speaking in a slightly surprised tone.

"Mew. I'm so glad you actually came out here to help me with my little project."

"No problem Bibi, what are friends for?" Mew kept a smile on his face as he was looking slightly bemused at his green companion.

_I suppose you are one of the few pokemon I can truly call a friend._ Bibi inwardly sighed to himself, though smiled to Mew regardless.

"It also helps that your one of the few celebi I don't absolutely loathe." Mew chuckled to himself. "Now what is this business you asked me out here for. I was busy amusing myself in Evol Temple." Mew looked to Bibi curiously now.

"Well, you know how Dialga was worried about certain catalysts leading to scenarios in time that could lead to doom or salvation?" Mew nodded motioning for Celebi to keep going with his paw. "It seems two catalysts are meant to meet their end a few leagues east of here. After begging Dialga, I was able to get him to grant me permission to influence the flow of time slightly."

"Uh huh. So what are these two catalysts supposed to do, save the world?" Mew began to chuckle to himself while Bibi started to become annoyed with Mew.

"Well, for your information, they could play a part in saving the world." The celebi looked off into the distance. "Well, if they're given the chance that is. Otherwise others wills have to step up to prevent the world's distraction."

"Hmm, and Dialga felt it would be prudent to give you such an important task for your first time meddling with the time stream? I'd think he would have gotten an experience celebi, no offense to you of course, to do this job if it was so important."

Bibi puffed up slightly in annoyance before responding. "Just because I watch over Temporal Tower most of the time doesn't mean I didn't prepare for this task before asking for it. There's almost no risk here as the two catalysts rarely fail to save the world, and even when they do, there are others capable of stopping complete destruction."

"Ahh, but there's still risk, and a likelihood of things going completely wrong as well. I wouldn't have come here at one of the Trinity's request otherwise. After all, meddling with the time stream can have many unexpected consequences."

The two legendary psychics spun around to see a previously undetected blue furred, bipedal pokemon step out of the shadows.


	2. Chapter 1: Save the Eggs

**Chapter 1: Save the Eggs**

The lucario that appeared before the legendary duo seemed to be exhausted.

_He looks familiar._ Bibi couldn't quite place it, but felt that she knew who this lucario was.

"Rio, it's been such a long time since I saw you last. How are you doing? Though, I suppose more importantly, why and how did you get here?" Mew gave a concerned look at the lucario's condition, though didn't inquire further. Bibi, though, was stuck trying to place the name Mew had used to a face, but was coming up empty.

The lucario merely responded with a small growl before speaking. "You know I go by Daemon now, Mew." The lucario then shifted his gaze slightly to Bibi before continuing. "I'm here because one of the Trinity felt the need to ask me for a favor. You should know better than most that you don't just deny a request from one of them."

"Mmhmm, you already said that. Now a good question would be what favor they asked of you. After all, I doubt you came all the way out here just to chat with lil' ol' me." Mew cast a slightly annoyed glance at Bibi as he pondered whether she really had permission to meddle with things.

Daemon sighed as he sat down with his back against one of the massive trees that surrounded the three pokemon. "Dialga made a request that I ensure you two don't try to _overly_ meddle with things as they are. Not that I know what that means. He just said the celebi here would be able to make the exact situation clear to me once she explained what her goals for the night were." With that, Daemon shifted his gaze to the celebi who awkwardly avoided eye contact with the pokemon.

"Before that though, you still need to answer my other question Daemon, how did you get here? The guild you've been working for is over two weeks journey by foot, and I sincerely hope that you didn't just walk here by yourself." Mew began looking at Daemon accusingly causing him to slightly avert his gaze from direct eye contact.

"If you must know, I brought two other members of my team with me and yes, I have been traveling the last couple weeks trying to get here at the time that Dialga had specified to me. And before you ask, no, I didn't have any problems with any of the dungeons between here and the guild, otherwise I probably wouldn't have gotten here on time. As for my companions, I told them to wait and rest at the Hysterian Woods' dungeon exit until I get back."

"Hmm, fine. So, Bibi, what exactly are we going to be doing tonight anyway? You already mentioned the two catalysts, but hadn't mentioned anything else before Daemon here interrupted our conversation." Mew gave a small smile and faked an accusatory look towards the lucario who merely grunted in reply.

Bibi stared off towards the east where Mt. Draceon stood. "Well, to summarize things up a bit... An earthquake is going to occur in about three hours. The epicenter will be just under Mt. Draceon and will effect the great majority of the Dracon Mountain Range." Bibi looked down sadly. "There will be few survivors as the terrain becomes warped from the initial impact. The plan though, is to go in before the quake hits and acquire two pokemon eggs from a charmander clan that lives in a low lying cave network." Bibi looked back at the mountain. _This to save two eggs, but leave everyone else to the terror of the quake._

Daemon just crossed his arms now as he contemplated the situation he had been thrust into. "Are there no absol in the area that might be able to warn of this disaster to the surrounding pokemon?" Bibi just shook her head, causing the lucario to sigh. "Well, I suppose Dialga sent me to make sure that neither of you tried to prevent the disaster from occurring. It wouldn't surprise me if this quake is just a trigger for other things Dialga has planned." Daemon looked down, a troubled look on his face.

"Hmph, Dialga and his preferred sequence of events." Mew seemed slightly peeved by this information as he too looked to the east just as the celebi was. "While I'm not opposed to such things, allowing them to happen still nags at my conscious even after being alive for millennia." The mew then looked again to Daemon who had walked over to them before addressing Bibi. "By the way, do you think it would be possible for the two of us to not show ourselves?"

Bibi looked to Mew, and thought it over for a bit before speaking. "I don't see why not, Dialga did send your friend here with us, so he should be able to get the two eggs without anyone in the area realizing either of us were here." Bibi said the 'us' part as he motioned with his right paw to herself and Mew. "What do you think Daemon?"

"That seems reasonable, though I must ask how you think I'll get the eggs? Not to seem rude, but couldn't either one of you simply teleport the two eggs out right before they would get crushed from the earthquake?" The two mystic pokemon looked at the lucario slightly amused by his question.

"Well Daemon. As you ascertained, it probably wouldn't be difficult for either me or Bibi to teleport in and grab the two eggs. The thing is though, neither me nor Bibi can really act heavily in the area for risk of a psychic picking up our presence and alerting nearby pokemon, thus defeating the point of trying to go unseen. As for how you'll do it, well, you could try walking up to the charmander clan and asking nicely, that might work." Mew said with a small, genuine smile.

Daemon sighed before looking ahead towards the mountain. "How long would it take us to get there by foot?"

Mew chuckled a bit. "Well silly, me and Bibi could just fly there in a little under five minutes. Though I suppose if you had to hike there in your condition, a little over twenty minutes to get to the foot of the mountain, where Bibi said the charmander clan should be."

"Might as well get walking then." With that, the lucario took off at a semi-jog.

"Just to pass the time though, how 'bout we talk, hmm Bibi? Hmm Daemon?" Mew said as he floated along near Daemon's left shoulder, looking as if he hadn't a worry in the world.

Bibi looked at the lucario as he floated at his right shoulder before speaking. "Sure thing Mew. First things first, how do you know Daemon here?"

Mew looked at the celebi with a small smile on his face. "Well, if you must know, I was having a small spat near the Endless Crag with one of your siblings when Daemon here, still being a riolu mind you, walked up and asked to challenge the two of us." Mew looked at the lucario with an amused expression, while Daemon seemed to lose focus for a second almost tripping over a tree root, causing Mew to chuckle. "After denying his request for a spar, me and the celebi I was fighting took off, though I kept a close eye on Daemon here as he went through his own misadventures."

Daemon just grunted as he looked ahead. "Story times over, looks like the forest clears up here into a meadow and we're probably a couple minutes from the mountain. Are you two going to become invisible or something, or are you planning to just stay at my shoulders whilst I request the two charmander eggs?"

Mew looked at Bibi before responding. "We'll probably just stay here at the meadow while you go into the caves. Bibi, how much time do we have left?"

Bibi looked at the mountain seriously before responding. "It should be another hour and a half at least, though we'll need to make sure there's ample time to get away with the two eggs so that Daemon doesn't get caught in the earthquake as well." Bibi then looked to the lucario. "Also, it might be good to mention just which two charmander eggs you are going in there for." Daemon looked at the celebi quizzically. "If you can, you should request the eggs of the late clan chief. To be slightly more specific, they should be the two eggs that are giving off a strong aura. Being an aura pokemon, you should be able to sense them."

Daemon mulled over that tidbit of information over as he started walking towards the mountain. "I'll see you two in a little while then, hopefully with two eggs."

"Good luck then. Just look for the cave with charmander standing outside guarding against predators and wild pokemon." Bibi said as she watched Daemon walk towards the mountain.

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><p>It took Daemon less than four minutes to find the cave entrance. Five charmander stood outside, though the lucario wasn't sensing any ill intent from them. Taking into consideration how strong they looked, Daemon walked forward knowing he could knock them out if absolutely necessary.<p>

"Halt there intruder!" The taller of the five charmander was the first to see Daemon approach from the trees. "What business do you have here?" The other four charmander were flanking the first as they approached in a slight arrow formation.

Daemon scanned them once more before choosing his words carefully, so as not to cause alarm or anger from the five charmander. "My name's Daemon. At the moment, I'm passing through as a member of the Gallant Guild and was hoping to recruit some strong pokemon to join my team. Maybe I could meet with your clan chief to discuss whether any of you might have the potential to join me?" Daemon saw the intrigue in their eyes, knowing he had captured their attention.

"Hmm, that sounds interesting, though if I'm remembering correctly, isn't the Gallant Guild far from here, leaving this area under a different guild's jurisdiction?" The lead charmander spoke, though not necessarily in a wary tone, but more of wonder.

_Of course, even if the Gallant Guild is far away, it'd be improbable for the name to have not been heard, even out here. _Daemon mulled over his response for a second. "Sometimes it's necessary to go into far off territories to find worthy members for the guild." The response seemed to satisfy the lead charmander.

"Hmm, that seems reasonable enough. My name's Zander by the way, second in charge in the clan. If you follow me, I can lead you to the chief's chambers so you can talk to him about recruiting for your team." Zander started walking into the cave before speaking once more, this time addressing his comrades. "You four make sure nothing happens upon the cave while I escort the lucario here to the chief's quarters."

Daemon followed Zander as he was led through multiple passages that seemed to branch off from the main tunnel before entering a somewhat well decorated chamber. In one corner was a small wooden chest with a small cot next to it. On the other side of the room was a small table that looked like it might be able to comfortably sit about five pokemon Daemon's size. Lastly, one wall seemed to have what looked like a map of the tunnel system on it.

"If you'll wait here for a second, I'll go grab the chief, he was meeting with a couple of the elders to discuss matters of expanding the cave system. I'll be right back." Zander then headed out of the chamber leaving Deamon alone for a couple of minutes before a charmelion walked in.

From Daemon's quick observation, he was able to ascertain that the charmelion had evolved as recently as few weeks ago by how he carried himself, and probably wasn't more than four or five years old. The charmelion seemed to give Daemon a once over glance before sitting down at the table and offering for Daemon to do the same.

"My name's Leon. I'm the current chief of this little clan, responsible for their well being. So, my friend Zander tells me that you wanted to speak to me about recruiting clan members to join your adventuring team?" Leon looked to the lucario with a questioning expression.

Daemon made a small coughing gesture to clear his throat before speaking. "Yes, I was seeking to find two strong individuals to join my team. I would like to ask if I might see if there are any possible candidates with a quick aura probe?" _The faster I can bring the conversation around to the two eggs, the better. Now what did Bibi tell me about them? They should be giving off a strong enough aura for me to sense them?_

"I wouldn't mind, though there are probably few here that might be considered diamonds in the rough. Your welcome to see if there are any here that catch your attention." Leon waited as Daemon closed his eyes and concentrated on sensing the aura around him. He could sense perhaps fifty or sixty charmander and charmelion near him, but amongst all the different aura, he could feel two that were slightly different, somewhat stronger than the other auras that Daemon was sensing. He ascertained the location of the two beings to be in the chamber next to the one he was currently in.

As Daemon opened his eyes, he could still sense the aura of the two beings in the next room over. "I seem to be sensing two beings with aura stronger than that of the rest of the clan." Daemon paused a bit, scanning the charmelion's face for a reaction. He only saw a slight nervous glance as Leon broke eye contact with the lucario for a moment. "They both seem to originate from the chamber next to this one. Might you know whom they might be?"

Leon sighed a bit as he stood up. "The two beings you might be sensing are probably my younger siblings." Leon looked to the lucario now as he spoke, a slight tinge of sadness in his voice. "After a few years, my parents had decided to raise more children themselves, though unfortunately, they had both passed away in a cave in not but three weeks ago. I was entrusted with the eggs after becoming the new clan chief, inheriting the title from my father." Leon's face turned deathly serious. "After some time, it became evident to me and the elders of the clan that the charmander that would hatch from the two eggs would have great potential. For this reason, I would be loathe to depart with my unhatched siblings."

Daemon considered this and spoke his next words, carefully, measuring the charmelion's reaction for any sign of outburst. "It's evident to me that the two mean quite a lot to you, but I could offer not only to take the two eggs off your paws, but also to train the two that would hatch from them so as to make sure that they both become strong and capable." Daemon paused. He read a small change in the Leon's aura as he seemed to be mulling the idea over. "I can guarantee the safety of the two eggs and give a solemn promise to make sure they grow up to reach this great potential they seem to have."

The charmelion seemed to be thinking the idea over, though he still seemed somewhat reluctant. Daemon, though, could see that his aura had already changed to one of concession, signaling that he'd convinced him to pass the two eggs off to him.

"Again, I am loathe to depart from my two siblings. But, if you can promise to raise them well, that is probably more than I would be able to do, as I haven't had to raise hatchlings yet. I will concede that you seem to exude an aura of both power and trustworthiness. Can I have your word the two eggs will be kept safe if I were to hand them over to you?" Leon passed a slightly worried glance towards the lucario as he took in the condition that he was in at the moment. "You seem to look quite exhausted as is from the journey you seem to have taken to get here."

"Well, I have been traveling for a few weeks, but I can give you my word that I will protect the two eggs on my journey back to the Gallant Guild." Daemon could see that Leon was slightly pleased to hear his answer.

"If you'll wait here for just a moment then. I'll be right back with the two eggs. Oh, I hadn't asked, but what team from the Gallant Guild are you a part of perchance?" Leon looked back towards Daemon questioningly before exiting the chamber through the small entryway.

"Ahh, yes. I'm the leader of Team Aura." Daemon said this casually, though he could see a small look of shock cross Leon's face temporarily before he exited the chamber.

Leon came back into the chamber shortly thereafter with a small, plain looking bag and an oran berry. "I've stored both eggs safely inside this bag. Its lined with down from some of the nearby altaria, so the eggs shouldn't get banged up too bad whilst traveling, though I still ask you to be careful. I also brought you a small oran berry since you look especially tired, though I probably wouldn't go so far as to say that you'd be bested by any of the wild pokemon around the mountain." Leon seemed to chuckle a bit. "I'll send Zander back in to escort you out. Tomorrow I'll explain to the clan elders that the two eggs have been put into safe hands to be cared for and become strong." Leon walked out of the room again, leaving Daemon with the bag he had left on the table and the oran berry.

_Hmm, that took a bit less convincing than I thought it would, he must've really nervous from the responsibility of having to raise his younger siblings while also being the clan chief, though soon it won't matter too much. _Daemon leaned his head down sadly as he thought about the fate that would befall the charmander clan in the coming hours.

After eating the oran berry and feeling some of his strength return to him, he considered trekking back to the entrance himself. As the thought crossed his mind though, Zander walked in wearing a smile that seemed to stretch from ear to ear. "Chief Leon told me the situation. I'm glad someone capable will be caring for the eggs. Now, if you'll follow me, I'll get you back to the entrance you used to get in." Daemon grabbed the bag before following Zander out of the chamber.

Daemon followed the charmander through the passageways back to the entrance before waving goodbye to the five guards and jogged back towards the meadow where he had left Mew and Bibi.

He was slightly confused upon arriving back at the meadow to find that neither of the mystic pokemon were there. Closing his eyes, he started to look for their aura, though didn't sense much. He was about to start walking back towards the spot in the forest where he had met up with them, but was intercepted as Mew and Bibi popped up in front of him.

"What-How-Where-" Daemon was astounded that he hadn't sensed them at all until they popped into his field of vision. "Did you two teleport away and then back?"

"Of course not, we were simply waiting for you up in the trees, suppressing our presences." Mew was chuckling as he looked down at the lucario.

"Not a moment too soon by the way. We've got maybe an hour to get back to the forest and out of range of the earthquake." Bibi was looking warily back at the mountain as they started to walk towards the forest.

While they were walking, Daemon thought about the ultimate fate of the eggs. What was going to happen to them after they got out of range? He voiced his concern to the celebi as they hiked back into the forest. "Well, ultimately I was going to ask Mew here to find two individuals who could care for them, though it seems that Dialga has sent one of the caretakers Mew would have chosen to watch them to us." Bibi gave a wink towards Daemon as she continued speaking. "If you think that you are capable of caring for one of them, I would have no objection other than that the two be separated for a while after hatching. Maybe about a year."

Daemon was slightly confused at Bibi's response. "You mean you didn't have this fully planned out? You were just hoping that, by happenstance, Mew would get the two eggs to the two pokemon destined to raise them? Also, why would we need to keep them separated?"

Bibi smiled down to the lucario before explaining. "Well, my plan was somewhat fool proof in that I knew Mew would only entrust the eggs to individuals he trusted. As for keeping them separated, the two, from what I can tell of my visits through time, seem to develop a love-hate relationship, so it'd be best to keep the two apart for a little while and judge how they might react upon meeting each other."

Daemon nodded as they got back to the original meeting place where he had found them. "I suppose that makes sense."

"Yep, now if you could do me one teensy, itty bitty favor as well..." Bibi looked at the lucario with somewhat pleading eyes. "Could you find a second pokemon who could help raise the other one? It would be a small weight off my shoulders to know that someone as capable as you chose the second pokemon to help raise them."

"As capable as me?" Daemon looked at Bibi slightly confused.

Mew coughed a bit. "While you were taking your time negotiating the acquisition of the eggs, I might have told Bibi about some of the adventures you had while you were younger."

"Hmph, if you say so. I've got someone in mind, if he accepts. Now, what are the two of you going to do?" Daemon was getting ready to trek back to his friends, but wanted to know what the two mystics would do, worried they might try to avert a disaster that Dialga had probably spent a while planning.

"Well, I suppose Bibi will go back to Dialga with a report of events, whilst I'll just go have more fun at Evol Temple with all the pokemon that like to train there." Mew made a small chuckle as he considered what kinds of games he could play on the adventure teams that entered the mystery dungeon.

Daemon just grunted. "I suppose I'll see you two later then. I've got to hurry back to Grenny and Chase."

"Well, I suppose that I should wish you good luck on your journey back to your home Daemon. I will see if I can pop in to visit, but it may be hard to schedule." With a green flash, the celebi disappeared.

"Bye Rio, see ya' later. I'll see about visiting if I can as well." Mew winked before he too disappeared, though with a pink flash.

_Hmm, I don't like how Mew winked at me._ Daemon wore a slightly worried expression. _Better hurry back to my team then._ Daemon took off at a fast pace, feeling a bit better after having eaten the oran berry that Leon had given him back in his chamber.

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><p>It wasn't too long before he got to a small clearing where a blissey stood waiting, a supply pack sitting next to him.<p>

"Heya Daemon, glad you're back. Watcha' been up to? You've been gone for almost four hours." The blissey then looked the lucario up and down to make sure he hadn't been injured in the small time he was away.

Daemon took a moment to scan the area before responding. "Nothing much, though I've come back with two eggs, not mine though, that I've been asked to care for. Also, where is Grenny?"

The blissey considered the bag Daemon had for a second before shrugging. "Grenny's just being Grenny. She went to scope out the surrounding area. Shouldn't be too long till she gets back."

"Really now, someone has to make sure we weren't followed out of the mystery dungeon by wild pokemon." Daemon jumped a bit as the black figure of a greninja landed right next to him. "Nothing to report though Chase. Seems we should be all good to rest here-"

Before Grenny could finish her statement though, all Distortion World seemed to break loose as the three pokemon felt the ground rumble and heard the crashing of stone, even being as far as they were from Mt. Draceon. After a few minutes the rumbling subsided and the three pokemon found themselves pushing themselves up and away from the trees they had leant against to steady themselves.

To their mutual horror, they could see that the whole of the western portion of Mt. Draceon had split off, covering large areas not even a kilometer away in rubble.

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><p><strong>AN: **Here's the finisher for the prologue. I didn't feel at the time that a prologue should be insanely long, so I had just ended it right before introducing Daemon. Hope y'all liked this, cause next chapter is going to be a time skip forward as we see which of the two charmander Daemon gets to raise and what their personality is like. On a side note, I'll probably just drop hints as to what Daemon's done throughout the story as it becomes relevant to events that are occurring at that the time. Oh, and feedback is always appreciated.


	3. Chapter 2: Registration

**Chapter 2: Registration**

"Cheri, wake up."

The small orange lizard could feel someone nudging her as she lay on her bed. "Five more minutes. . ." She mumbled as she tried to bury her head into her pillow.

"If you end up sleeping in, you won't be able to register yourself for the guild, Cheri."

Cheri's eyes flew open. "Wait, what? What time is it? Am I late already!?" She looked to the lucario who stood over her bed chuckling.

"You've still got about an hour till registration, but it helped to get you out of bed." The lucario stepped away from the bed, briefly glancing back at the charmander that lay in the bed before taking in the rest of the room. The room was fairly plain only having two small chests on either side of a cotton bed that sat against one wall. The other side of the room had a small practice dummy in the shape of a kangaskhan that had been beaten to the floor, with some small scorch marks on it.

"That's not funny Uncle Daemon." Cheri was rubbing her eyes as she continued. "You made me think I was already late to go to the guild's training camp." She looked at the taller pokemon accusingly.

Daemon touched his paw to his chin in mock thought. "Yes, but if I left you to sleep until registration, you wouldn't have gotten to eat breakfast before you went, now would you?" Daemon then looked at the young charmander seriously. "Also, if you want to become as good of a rescue team member as myself, you'll need to start waking up nice and early to get things done. After all, what do I say about being on time?" Daemon looked at Cheri with his arms crossed over his chest waiting for her answer.

Cheri bowed her head and sighed. " 'If you're not ten minutes early, you're late.' But I hardly see your point. I could have woken up in half an hour and still have been able to -"

Daemon cut Cheri off. "The point is practicing for when you will have to wake up at the crack of dawn. Now, do you want to go eat breakfast, or are you planning to stay in your room till the registration starts?"

Cheri jumped from the bed. "Of course I want to go eat right now."

* * *

><p>"You should really chew your food more or you'll choke on your apple Cheri." Daemon glanced at Cheri worriedly before taking a small bite out of his own apple. She was seated on the other side of the small table that just about filled the small eating room.<p>

"I'm just really excited to go to the training camp, because then that means I'll be able to join or form my own team within the guild just like you did." Cheri wore a large grin before eating the other half of the apple in one bite. "By the way, where are all the others? Usually someone would stay behind to clean up the base, or make sure I didn't get into trouble."

Daemon took another bite from his apple before replying. "There was a small cave-in near Mineral Town that had trapped a few pokemon. Naturally I volunteered Team Aura, though I couldn't go myself because I've got some responsibilities to take care of."

Cheri narrowed her gaze at the lucario, clearly annoyed. "I'm not a hatchling Uncle Daemon! I'm nearly a year old. I can handle going to training camp myself." She was ready to defend her position, until Daemon chuckled.

"While my responsibility might also involve you, I've been asked to help out with some of the camp training for the day. Also, I know you're nearly a year old. I wouldn't have let you go anywhere near the camp today if I didn't think you were capable." Daemon bent down and grabbed a small satchel from underneath the table before looping the strap across his body. "Now, we should probably get going. There's probably only twenty minutes till registration starts and it's about a five minute walk from here to the guild hall."

Cheri sighed before she asked. "What are you gonna be doing at the camp on the first day? Some sort of battle training?"

"You'll find out after the introduction." With that, Daemon started to walk towards the door with Cheri following swiftly behind him.

The inside of the base had a large, open area that was only occupied by a large desk and table. There were various doors on the around the room that led to the various team members rooms, with a hall in one corner that led to the front door. The majority of the light in the room seemed to come from torches positioned between each door.

Exiting Team Aura's base, Cheri could see a good portion of the valley in which the Gallant Guild resided. Amongst the many teams in Gallant Guild, Team Aura was one of the few to have a base built into the side of hill near one of the nearby plateaus. It could be said that the base was well hidden, since the only sign of occupation was a wooden door on one side of the hill.

The valley itself though was loosely wooded, snaked here and there by a few thin rivers and dotted by a few hills. The sun had barely risen over the eastern plateau to shed light into the valley as well.

Cheri followed Daemon as they crossed through the grasslands, not seeing much of interest. She had followed various members of Daemon's team into Valor Town, the small town that lay next to the Gallant Guild Hall, before and had just about memorized all the different little cottages that she would pass on her way there from Team Aura's base.

Valor Town itself was fairly open, popping up from the sparse woodlands with small buildings and stands. A few other early birds were up already as well though, and were haggling with shop owners for goods.

The only building of any real note in Valor Town was a large, green dome shaped building near the center of town that served as the headquarters for the Gallant Guild. There was a small light blue protrusion on top that seemed to run from front to back as well, which, to Cheri's memory, served as the top floor to the hall.

Of note, the entrance was a fairly large gate bordered by two large braziers. Entering the guild hall, Cheri was amazed to see that many of the in-hall vendors and services were occupied as pokemon were darting around getting the last of the provisions they needed before they went out on their missions. Many pokemon were swarming the two sets of stairs that ran on opposite sides of the hall that served as a method of transportation from floor to floor, though the middle of the hall was fairly open itself, only housing a small message board and circular staircase down towards the infirmary.

Daemon directed Cheri towards a small room on the first floor that seemed almost hidden behind one of the curved staircases that led up.

"The book keeper will have your paperwork, so just tell her your name when you walk in. I'll be by in a little while, I just have to finalize some paperwork." With that, Daemon set off up the nearby staircase, leaving Cheri just outside the meeting room.

_Better walk in and register then._ Cheri walked into the room and was quickly greeted by a large, elderly ursaring standing behind a small table.

"Welcome! You must be Cheri?" The large ursaring smiled down towards the charmander. "Daemon gave me your paperwork yesterday. I just need your print on the bottom to finalize your registration." The ursaring pulled out a small sheet of paper with some fields already filled in. At the bottom was a small blank spot for Cheri to sign.

"Umm, thank you." Cheri popped her claw into a small ink well before stamping it down at the bottom of the page and then cleaning her paw. "By the way, what's your name? Uncle Daemon hadn't mentioned it to me this morning."

The ursaring looked the paper over one last time before replying with a smile. "My name's Ursa, not the most original name mind you, but still better than some of the things parents will name their children nowadays." Ursa then pulled out a small blue slip of paper from a folder. "This is yours. It's an identification tag for the time being. Sir Gallant will be by in a few minutes for the introduction and he'll tell you what you'll be doing for the day." Ursa filed away Cheri's registration paper before picking up a small box and heading towards the door. "By the way, feel free to socialize with the other registrants. while you wait for Sir Gallant. We weren't expecting anymore pokemon to show up." The ursaring then left the room with the small box in her arms.

Taking in the rest of the room, Cheri was slightly surprised. _There are only five other pokemon who registered this month?! _She was shocked that there wasn't a larger number of pokemon trying to enter the guild. In all, she could identify them as a venonat, a machoke, a furret, a sneasel, and an oshawott. The venonat, machoke, furret, and sneasel seemed to be having a heated debate, while the oshawott seemed to be sleeping in the corner.

_He's not taking this seriously at all, is he?_ Cheri just sighed to herself as she walked over to the four who were having a discussion.

"I'm telling ya', the colors are for identifyin' the weaklings and the strong." The machoke said looking toward the venonat and furret. "I put down my prior dungeon experience as intermediate and they gave me a red card." The machoke was pointing to a small red card in his right hand. "And my friend Azazel put himself down for intermediate too, and he has a red card." The large muscular pokemon looked at the sneasel who was also holding a red card in his claws.

"Well, I suppose you're right. Me and my friend put ourselves down as novices and got green colored cards." The furret spoke up, gesturing towards himself and the venonat.

"It seems obvious that they plan to separate the stronger pokemon from the weaklings so that they aren't held back." The sneasel sneered as he looked down at the furret. "They'll probably just let us join a team without the need for any training, knowing how strong we are."

_What a condescending little-_ Cheri's thought was cut off though as the sneasel seemed to address her.

"What about you, shorty? What color card did the ursaring give you for your skill level?" The sneasel, whom Cheri inferred was named Azazel, asked her.

"Oh, umm, I got a blue card, though I'm not sure what skill level was on my form cause my uncle filled it out." Cheri spoke somewhat shyly, nervous since she hadn't actually looked at the form at all before putting her print on it.

"Hmph. He must have put you down under no experience. You don't look particularly strong." Azazel glared down at Cheri.

She was about to give a retort before a gallade sauntered into the room, beaming with a large smile on his face.

"Good morning! I am Sir Gallant, leader of the Gallant Guild." The gallade bowed to the pokemon present in the room. "I'd like to cordially welcome you to this month long training camp where you'll be able to better yourselves and eventually join a rescue team."

Sir Gallant seemed to take in the pokemon present now as his eyes drifted to each of them, before settling on the oshawott who still seemed to be sleeping in the corner. The sneasel and machoke started to snicker while the furret and venonat seemed to look in different directions awkwardly. Cheri just stared at the water type with disappointment. Sir Gallant seemed slightly amused though as he walked over and nudged the oshawott slightly on the shoulder. "Sir oshawott, the introduction for the camp is starting, you should probably pay attention."

The oshawott jumped, clearly startled before looking up at the gallade.

"Oh, sorry. I must have fallen asleep after giving my form to the ursaring." The oshawott bowed his head a bit. "It's good to meet you though, and I'm really excited to be here." The oshawott smiled up towards the gallade.

"Oh, no problems. But, I'll go ahead and start laying out how the camp is going to work for the next thirty days." Sir Gallant walked up to a small podium in the corner of the room and picked a paper up from it. "Yes, you'll be spending the first half of camp training here at the guild hall before the second half of camp, where you'll be putting the skills you learn into practice, albeit, with a little supervision." He then put the paper down before continuing. "For today though, you've been split up into three teams so that each of you can experience a real mystery dungeon today."

The six pokemon in front of the gallade looked to each other intrigued, and a bit nervous. Sir Gallant smiled warmly before continuing.

"To elaborate, three team leaders from the guild have volunteered to take you into mystery dungeons today." The gallade then pointed to the back of the room where a haxorus, a lucario, and a typhlosion stood.

_Wait, Uncle Daemon is here? _Cheri looked at the lucario between the haxorus and typhlosion carefully to confirm that it was Daemon. _Mmmm, I hope I didn't get put on his team._

Sir Gallant then walked to the other side of the room to stand in front of the team leaders. "Daemon of Team Aura, Liam of Team Inferno, and Hack of Team Trinity Fang have volunteered for the day to take you into Tiny Woods, Valor Mines, and Evol Temple respectively." The three aforementioned pokemon stepped forward a little bit. "Those with blue cards will go with Daemon, those with green cards will go with Liam, and those who have red cards will go with Hack." Sir Gallant smiled down to the six pokemon in front of him. "Good luck. I hope each of you stays safe and is able to show off your skills to each of your team leaders."

* * *

><p>Cheri walked over to Daemon a little frustrated. She noticed that the oshawott had followed her over as well, though he seemed a bit star struck as he stood in front of Daemon.<p>

"It's nice to meet you sir!" The oshawott looked up at the lucario, obviously excited.

"It's a pleasure to meet you as well, Otto." Daemon looked down at the oshawott who seemed slightly surprised.

"You... you know my name?"

"Of course. I looked over your registration form before coming to the room."

"Wow. I can't believe you took the time to learn my name." Otto looked up at Daemon with stars in his eyes.

"I don't see what the big deal is. He's just a team leader. There're lots more such as Hack and Liam over there." Cheri started to vent some of her frustration, knowing that Uncle Daemon had purposefully put himself in a position to oversee her for the day.

Otto looked at Cheri with shock. "Daemon's not just any leader. He's the leader of Team Aura, the strongest team in the guild. He's gotta be, like, one of the strongest pokemon in the whole kingdom."

Cheri just brushed off the comment. "Really, I couldn't care less. What I do care about though, is why he made sure that he would be my team leader for the first day!?" Cheri looked up at Daemon with an accusing look on her face.

"Now Cheri, be nice." Daemon chuckled a little to himself. "You were the one that wanted to participate, I just wanted to make sure that you stayed safe on your first visit to a mystery dungeon." Daemon then looked at Otto. "Which reminds me, you don't have much experience with mystery dungeons, right Otto?"

"Oh, umm... I've never personally entered a dungeon, but I've been training to join a rescue team for a while." Otto looked down nervously, afraid that the lucario might make fun of him.

"Oh, it seems that you're in the same boat as Cheri then. She's never stepped foot into a mystery dungeon either." Daemon smiled down at the charmander now.

"Not for lack of trying." Cheri mumbled to herself.

Daemon picked up the bag that Cheri had seen him take with him earlier that morning before pulling out two light red scarves. "Before we get going to the Tiny Woods, I think I should give you each a pecha scarf to help you with any poisons there might be inside the dungeon." He knelt down and tied one scarf around Cheri's neck and the other around Otto's.

"Thank you Daemon, sir. I'll make sure to keep it safe while we're in the dungeon." Otto was beaming, looking at the scarf affectionately.

"Yeah, thanks Uncle." Cheri growled a bit as she fiddled with the scarf adjusting it to be a bit off center with the point.

"Uncle?" Otto looked at the charmander, a bit confused.

"My Uncle Daemon here raised me since I hatched." Cheri said, a bit exasperated. "He's looked after me like a baby my whole life, too."

"Wow, that . . . that's awesome!" Otto looked at Cheri awestruck. "You were able to be raised by one of the strongest pokemon in the whole guild!"

Cheri sighed. "I suppose, but I still feel like he babied me too much."

Daemon patted Cheri on the head a bit, whilst pulling the bag over his body with his other paw. "Well, I wouldn't have had to keep such a close eye on you if you had kept yourself out of trouble."

Otto looked confused. "What kind of trouble could she have gotten in?"

Daemon looked at Cheri with a grin on his face as she blushed. "Oh, nothing much. She just nearly burned down the guild hall once when she lost track of me in the dojo." Cheri blushed even harder now.

"Watcha got here Daemon? Two little munchkins who don't know a thing about dungeons?" The haxorus, Hack had walked over, looking at Cheri and Otto with derision. "Don't know why you requested to look after the beginner group, but I'll take the experienced group any day." Hack said as he started to chuckle.

Daemon seemed to sigh before responding. "You know Hack, you really shouldn't be using the training camp as a recruitment field. Also, you should know better than most that some pokemon will inflate their skill level to look good on paper." Daemon smiled coolly at the haxorus.

Hack grumbled. "To each his own I guess. I'll see just how strong the sneasel and machoke are in Evol Temple. Lots of strong dragon types in there." The haxorus walked back over to the machoke and sneasel who were waiting by the door to go.

Daemon sighed as Hack walked away. "Honestly, it's a wonder he's as capable as he is when he cares about brute strength so much." He then looked back down at Cheri and Otto as they had waited for him to finish his conversation with Hack.

"Not a very friendly leader is he?" The oshawott was looking towards the door that the red team had walked out of.

Daemon chuckled before responding. "Well, he wears on you after a while. He's got fairly loyal teammates and a second in command that keeps him in check for the most part." The lucario started to walk towards the door now. "We should probably get going though. It's about a two hour walk to the Tiny Woods, and we wouldn't want to get back too late, or someone might start to worry."

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** So, this took a while cause I went back, rewrote it. Thought about how I wanted things to go. Split the chapter in half since the second half wasn't done yet. Rewrote it. And now, after spending various amounts of time debating minor details, here's chapter 2. Enjoy!

I'm being serious though, Otto was a mudkip in the first iteration and I tried to make Cheri a bit more bratty with Daemon. As said in the previous couple sentences though, the next chapter is about written, I just wanted to expand on the dungeon a little and maybe mess with the main characters a bit earlier than I had originally planned? Well, we'll see. Chapter after that, I'll go ahead and introduce Cheri's brother.


End file.
